


The B-Word

by themoonandmargot



Series: Until Orange [2]
Category: Smosh
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mild Angst, Post-First Kiss Shit, making things official
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 22:25:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15496029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themoonandmargot/pseuds/themoonandmargot
Summary: Another restless night. Rather than find an answer in the cracks of his bedroom ceiling, Shayne rolls to his side and enters possibly his dumbest Google search yet:What does it mean when two people are a thing?





	The B-Word

Lots of things change after the first kiss.

Some changes are little, like life at the office. They start leaving work late, just so they can walk through the empty parking garage hand-in-hand (though Boze is often nearby and teasing). During the day, they’re exuberant, practically floating through the office because they’ve never felt so light. One day Olivia jokes that Shayne must be pregnant since he’s “literally glowing”. She has no idea that he and Damien have been sneaking kisses in the break room, or cuddling in the SG room between shoots.

Some changes are big, the sort of experiences only they know. When he’s alone in his room, with his eyes red and puffy, Damien looks in the mirror and searches for a label he didn’t know needed finding. Sometimes Shayne picks up his phone and considers calling his parents back home to share news he’s still not sure they’ll like. It’s arguing over risks taken in public places, and it’s sobbing into shirt sleeves, and yet it’s also those three words, getting easier to say every day but each time feeling like the first.

All this, and strangely enough, Shayne struggles with the one change that seems most obvious…

The b-word.

~

“Bitchin’ party you’ve got, man.”

Shayne turns and sees Ian, his hand outstretched. He goes to grab it, then stops. “Nope, not falling for it,” Shayne says. “Your hand is so wet, it’s literally glistening.”

Ian groans and smiles. “Damnit, I thought I had you. You’re too smart for me, Shayne,” he laughs.

“Well, it helped that I just saw you walking out of the bathroom.”

Ian takes the spot beside Shayne. “Yeah, well. Bet you didn’t know that it’s actually piss on my hand.”

Shayne breaks into a grin, dipping his head to chortle. “No, I didn’t know that. Now I regret not shaking it,” he jokes.

Backs against the kitchen sink, they survey the scene before them. Shayne’s living room isn’t vastly spacious, but it provides a nice, intimate atmosphere for his closest friends and coworkers. A handful of people stay close to the walls and mingle, while a group collects on the couch for a game of Funemployed.

It’s there Shayne sees Damien, laughing at whatever card Mari just put down. For a second Shayne feels his body lurching forward, feels himself acting on the impulse to head over there and kiss Damien in front of everyone— _stupid, risky, don’t_ —but then Ian leans over.

“So,” he murmurs, “when were you gonna tell us that you have a girlfriend?”

 _Nooope._ Shayne’s plastic cup slips through his fingers and falls to the ground, splattering beer across the kitchen tile. At least he’s lost his appetite for alcohol.

“What are you talking about?” Shayne asks. He tries his best to keep his voice steady as he reaches for the paper towels and bends down.

“I noticed it in your restroom. Two toothbrushes, different colors. I don’t think very many people who live alone own two toothbrushes, or at least they don’t keep them in the same cup.” Ian rips himself a paper towel before crouching beside Shayne. “I mean, I might be wrong.”

The beer chills Shayne’s fingertips as he sops it up. He keeps his eyes downward though he feels Ian reading his face, discerning every hint of discomfort and confusion across his features. All Shayne can do is shake his head and chuckle a bit when he says, “You’re definitely wrong.”

“Well, damn. Could’ve sworn…”

They clean in silence, but Shayne knows that Ian is just sparing him from any more emotional torment. Of course he expects an explanation. And honestly, Shayne wouldn’t mind giving him one. Telling his friends all the secrets he’s been hiding from them for the past few weeks—he would love to do that. Shayne’s just not sure he has an explanation himself.

And there’s only one thing to blame, that stupid b-word.

~

“Boze, please.”

“Or did you like, park in some alleyway and jerk each other off because the idea of doing that stuff in public secretly gets you going?”

Horror falls upon Shayne’s face as he looks up at Boze. “Jesus _Christ_ , are you the one who’s been writing all those Shaymien fanfictions all along?”

“Listen, when y’all keep things from me, I can’t help but assume the worst!” Boze plops into the bean bag opposite of Shayne and watches him, scrolling through his phone. “I already know y’all did some sappy shit,” she continues. “Damien would not stop smiling when he came home last night.”

The image makes Shayne’s stomach turn in the best of ways. “Really?” he asks, mouth curling into a grin. “I’m glad to hear that.”

Boze squints at him and wagers a guess. “Was it dinner and a movie?”

“Nope.”

“Dinner and the museum?”

Shayne’s face flickers. “Maybe.”

Throwing her arms up, Boze leans back in her bean bag and rejoices. “ _Uggghhh_ , y’all are so cute! Love is real and my friends are balls-deep in it!”

Shayne crinkles his nose, though he can’t hide the way his cheeks jut out in a smile. “Why are you suddenly so interested in my and Damien’s date night?” he huffs, turning red.

“I’ve always been curious. I’m just more curious since Damien wouldn’t tell me anything about it,” Boze explains. “Plus, last night was special!”

Shayne quirks an eyebrow. “Special?”

“You think I don’t know? Last night marked one month of y’all being together! Four whole weeks is sort of a big deal for you two. I _had_ to know what y’all did to celebrate.”

Shayne’s face falls. Behind his eyes flash images of stereotypical anniversary date nights, all borrowed from cheesy romcoms, all laughable yet strangely alluring. “Oh. I didn’t realize it’s been one month already,” he mumbles.

“Oh my god, are you seriously saying y’all didn’t know it was your one month anniversary?”

“Um, well…” Shayne imagines the words rolling off his tongue, sealing them into kisses— _happy one month, asshole_ —and the regret and frustration of never actually saying them hits him so hard that he forgets to breathe. “I don’t think Damien and I do anniversaries,” Shayne heaves, digging moon-shaped marks into his own palms.

“Wait, what? Really?” Boze frowns. “But… why?”

At a loss for words, they look at each other until the creak of the office door alerts them. The production assistant at the doorway says Shayne is wanted in Studio 2, providing the closest-to-perfect excuse for him to step away.

Shayne gets to his feet and leaves without so much as a goodbye. His throat constricts at the thought of an inevitable lecture, but he feels a greater weight in his stomach when he looks back at Boze from the door. He can’t hear the exact worries in her head, but he sees it in her eyes—genuine concern. It latches onto Shayne and lingers, through the halls of the office and in a smile forged for thousands behind a screen.

Right at the back of his mind, just like the b-word.

~

“Breakfast?”

“I could totally go for some breakfast right now.”

Damien stretches, tossing his arms above his head and nestling his face into the sheets. “God, I love Sundays,” he sighs, smiling in Shayne’s direction.

The sight warms Shayne’s heart, down to the core when Damien rolls out of bed and adjusts the fit of his underwear along his thighs. Blissful, Shayne nearly lets him walk away, but then he remembers the plan. _Ugh._

“Hey, wait, Damien?” he calls, heart hammering in his chest.

“Yeah?”

“Can we talk?”

Damien pauses before swiveling on his heel and marching back to the bed. “What’s up?” he asks, sinking into the mattress and peering at Shayne with a softness that makes his throat go dry.

Shayne pushes himself upright in bed, only to recall that he’s wearing one of Damien’s shirts. It helps him breathe a bit easier, knowing what he’s about to bring up.

“So, um… Some stuff has been happening,” Shayne starts.

“Oh, stuff.” Damien grins at him, though Shayne is too apprehensive to smile back.

“Yeah, stuff,” he says. “And it’s got me thinking about some things, about us.”

Damien nods, smile softening. “Stuff and things, okay.” His eyes trail downwards before flickering up to Shayne, just for a moment. “Are they good things?” he asks, quiet.

Shayne’s hand, twisted in the sheets, twitches at the implication. “Yes. I mean, hopefully _you_ think they’re good things.”

Damien hums and leans back. “If you think they’re good things, then we should be fine.”

 _Yeah, maybe_ , Shayne mentally snorts. He takes a breath. “Speaking of things,” he says, “we’re one. I mean, we’re a thing. And I love that we’re a thing.”

“Me too.”

“But, like… a thing isn’t, like… Like, it’s just a thing, y’know?”

“I’m not sure I understand,” Damien chuckles, urging on Shayne in his tone. “Just say what you want to say, man.” _Say it._

“I want us to keep being a thing, but I also, uh…”

_Say. It._

“I want us to be… y’know…”

“Stop saying ‘y’know’ because I don’t.”

_Say it, just once!_

“Boyfriends,” Shayne blurts, the word a bullet out his mouth. Damien raises his brows and Shayne responds with more rambling. “I mean, I get it if that’s not something you want and you’re more comfortable with just being ‘a thing’ and keeping it casual and whatever, but what I feel for you is more than casual and I just figured I should tell you before I get way too upset with myself and–”

Shayne jumps as Damien kisses him, though it’s not long until he’s fluttering his eyes close and leaning into Damien’s touch. The sweep of a hand along Shayne’s jaw is enough to clear his mind and clutter it all at once, and he’s lucky that Damien leans back before he can get too lost in it all.

“Boyfriends,” Damien echoes, his breath filling the small space between them. “I like that word.”

Pressing his forehead against Damien’s, Shayne releases a sigh of relief. “Thank god.”

They kiss again, warm and tired in the filtered sunlight, yet Damien finds the energy to tease Shayne one more time. “Weren’t we already boyfriends?” he asks.

Shayne scratches his head. “I dunno. You never said we were.”

“Well, _you_ never said we were.”

They sit there, staring at each other in bed until laughter washes over them and tinges their ears pink. Eventually, the growl of Damien’s stomach reminds them of the leftovers in the fridge, and they don’t take long to head to the kitchen like normal.

 _Like normal._ Cuddling on the couch while shoveling Tupperware stir fry into their mouths, that feels positively normal. Perhaps not much changes after the one-month anniversary. Shayne doesn’t mind; he prefers it stay like this for quite some time.

It’s fun knowing love is real, Shayne thinks. And it’s exhilarating to know that he and his b-word are truly, undoubtedly balls-deep in it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you'd like, please leave a comment below and maybe even check out my Smosh sideblog on Tumblr @shaymiens! <33


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